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Article: `Taxi Driver': On the Road Again
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- March 1, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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"TAXI DRIVER," a sometimes-elliptical masterpiece about the
bloody redemption of an alienated New York cabbie, has been
rereleased to mark its 20th anniversary. But it hasn't aged so much
as triumphantly metastasized. Since the mid-1970s, the movie has
become presciently emblematic of our emotionally diseased,
violence-prone culture.
Central character Travis Bickle's semi-psychotic, solo routine
in front of the mirror -- "You talkin' to me?" -- has been performed
as a gag at keg parties, around lunch tables, in standup routines,
via e-mail and certainly in front of mirrors across the world for
nearly 20 years.
More tragically, John W. Hinckley Jr.'s bizarre infatuation
with Jodie ...